Konoha Hiden - The Wedding
by petran
Summary: For those of you that are upset that Konoha Hiden didn't describe the actual wedding between Naruto and Hinata. The guests are beginning to arrive, the marriage is about to start... and a mysterious yet VERY familiar photographer is cursing at his camera.
1. Chapter 1-Before the wedding

**Before I start with the fanfic, I have an important announcement to make. The English version of Hinata's character song is finally ready and up! MellorineGirl17 did an exceptional job as Hinata, giving a really heartbreaking performance. I highly suggest you give it a listen. The link is on my profile.**

 **So… Is anybody else miffed that Konoha Hiden didn't get to describe the actual NaruHina wedding and the reception that followed afterwards? I know I am! And when I get miffed I write!**

 **Actually, I've been meaning to write this for a while. Ever since I've laid my eyes on an excellent piece of fan-art by** **PixIV artist AIKA, I wanted to write a story about Sasuke taking pictures at Naruto's wedding and reflecting on it…**

 **...but then Konoha Hiden** **came out and it was revealed that Sasuke was not seen at the wedding.**

 **But I _still_ wanted to write the story, and I _still_ wanted it to be as canon-compliant as possible! Eventually I came up with... something else.**

" **Sukea" is actually from the official Naruto " Book Of Wind", the one-shot where Kakashi's face is finally revealed. He is supposed to be a reporter that tries to find out and take a picture of Kakashi's true face along with Team 7. Since "Sukea" in that story turns out to be (SPOILER!) Kakashi in disguise, and Kakashi is seen being present at the wedding, the "Sukea" in this fanfic is definitely NOT the same "Sukea" as in the "Book of Wind"** _ **even though they are supposed to be the same "character"!**_

 **Confused? Read further and it will all become clear.**

 **Before I start, a bit of a warning: the typesetted manga that is making the rounds on the web actually miss-translated the name "Sukea" to "Shikaner". In fact "Shikaner" was how I was originally going to name the character in my fanfic, because well… that's what I thought the character was named.**

 **See now how bad translations become memes and preservere?**

 **Thankfully** **cacatuasulphureacitrinocristata set me straight!** **But just so you know, "Sukea" is actually the "Shikaner" character you saw on the** **Book of Wind miss-translation** **that is circulating the web. Again the "Sukea" in this fic is the same "paparazzi character" as in Naruto's "Book of Wind", but a different** _ **person.**_

 **Chronologically, the first chapter takes place a few hours before the final chapter of Konoha Hiden**

* * *

' _Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

* * *

Sukea held the camera in his hand and inspected it curiously. It was definitely lighter that what he expected. The last time he saw a camera it was in his teen years. Back then, he tried to see Kakashi's face, to at least catch a glimpse of it, and expose it for all the world to see. The camera back then was huge, you needed both hands to actually hold it, and it felt rather heavy…

...he prefered that camera, he _knew how to use that camera._ All he had to do, was go to a dark place, put a film in it, close the cap and it was ready to wind and go.

But this camera, _this freaking camera,_ was a mystery! There were no caps, no films _nothing!_ All it had was a few buttons and a screen at the back which was currently black. _Nothing about this thing made any sense!_

He pressed a button…Nothing…

He pressed another button... Still nothing!

Cold sweat started covering his body.

' _How the hell am I supposed to use this thing?!'_

Well, he better figure it out… very soon…

The wedding was about to start…

 **And he was supposed to be the photographer for crying out loud!**

* * *

He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to even be here. He didn't think he even **deserved** to be here, after everything he had done. Not after he had wronged so many of the people that were going to be present.

But Kakashi was persistent. He kept badgering him to come back and attend the wedding, sending him hawk message after hawk message. No matter how much he had tried to cover his tracks, the hawks kept finding him and pestering him to come back. He chose to ignore the messages and use them to light up fires that warmed his cold nights in the desert. But then came a hawk message that he just couldn't ignore…

...it contained a picture of his **first kiss** …

...He was back in Konoha in less than three days.

He quickly made his way to the Hokage building slammed open the door of Kakashi's office and very angrily inquired where he got that picture. The Sixth Hokage reminded him that he used to be in ANBU, and that he and Naruto were under surveillance at the time. His first kiss was a rather amusing incident that was caught by some very expertly hidden cameras and was secretly passed around the ANBU squad as a source of mirth and laughter…The Hokage kept a copy of the picture just in case he needed some leverage from him. He figured that now was the best time to use it.

"What do you want me to do?" the desert wanderer asked.

"Simple, I want you to attend the wedding, observe, and assist Captain Yamato in case anything goes wrong."

"And if I say no?"

"Then I will show this picture to anyone who asks me why you weren't present."

The wandered was filled with cold unadulterated rage... He slammed his fist onto the Hokage's office.

"You're bluffing! You will never do such a thing because that would also affect Naruto!"

"Maybe… Maybe not. "

The sixth Hokage smiled widely behind his mask.

"You know SHE is also going to be there…"

That sentence was enough to make his anger fly away. He closed his eyes and formed a painful expression on his face.

"I am not ready to face her yet. Not after everything I've done to her."

"Aren't you a _least_ bit curious to see how she is doing?"

"I am sure she is doing fine. She is not some weak woman."

Kakashi's smile grew wider.

"You know, Naruto's wedding is going to be big event. Lots of people are going to attend it. And a lot of people, _single_ people would like to meet the world's strongest Kunoichi that punched a goddess and saved the world."

His face faltered… Kakashi got to him.

"There will be lots of people there that don't like me very much." he hurriedly explained "People I have fought and tried to kill. People I have severely wronged. Showing my face at the wedding isn't going to be such a good idea."

"Don't worry about it" said the sixth Hokage as he sat back on his chair.

"Nobody pays any attention to the photographer in weddings."

* * *

The long robe felt heavy. But it was the only piece of clothing that covered up his… condition.

He took another look on his reflection at the lake. His face was covered in white makeup with two vertical red lines on the eyes. He resisted the urge to scratch it.

His contact lenses were still in place, but they made his eyes twitch.

He put the camera in his pocket and touched his bleached-gray hair with the palm of his hand. It felt weird…

He took the camera back out and resisted the urge to smash it against a wall. He was beginning to get really irritated now...

' _I look like an idiot, and I still don't have the slightest idea how I am supposed to use this thing!'_

He saw a little girl staring at him.

"Mister! Are you a clown?"

 _'Well, I guess I really do look like one...'_

"No, little missie, my name's Sukea, and I am the wedding photographer."

The little girl looked at Sukea's accursed device.

"Is this your camera?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Can I play with it?"

 _'Oh, well, it's not like I will be able to use it anyways...'_

"Sure, go ahead..."

Sukea handed the little girl the camera. He took a quick look at the label in the back, making a mental note to pay a visit to its makers in the near future and make them atone for their sins.

The little girl held it excitedly and pressed the top button for a few seconds. Her face lit up with joy as the camera turned itself on and displayed the control menu. After she played with the screen a bit, she opened the camera's shutter and pointed it at him.

"Smile mister! I want to take a picture of you!"

Sukea was flabbergasted.

"You figured out how to actually _use_ this thing?"

The little girl gave him a big toothy grin.

"Of course I did! Mama says I'm smart! Don't you know how your camera works? It's _yours_."

"I just got it today" he explained "and I don't know what I am supposed to do with it."

"Would you like me to show you some stuff?"

"Yes…" Sukea huffed.

The little girl made a playful gesture.

"Pretty please with cherry on top?!"

" _Please_!" cried the photographer "I _beg_ you!"

The little girl motioned him to come closer. Sukea crouched and leaned next to her. She pointed at the screen at two strange pictures at the bottom.

"If you touch this you make movies, and if you touch this you make pictures."

"You're supposed to _touch_ the screen?!"

"Yes!" huffed the little girl whose expression morphed into that of a strict teacher..

She handed him back the camera.

"Try to take picture of me! Touch the pictures at the bottom!"

Sukea did so.

"You see me moving on the screen?"

"Yes."

"Touch the button on top!" said the little girl as she smiled widely for the camera.

The camera flashed and a satisfying 'click' sound was heard.

 **Flash! Click!**

"You did it! Now to make a movie..."

As the little girl was about to explain, a voice was heard from a distance.

"Mirai! Stop bothering the photographer! He has a job to do!"

A lady with long wavy black hair came near and picked up the little girl.

"Mommy!"

Sukea tried to smile at the woman as best as he could. He closed his eyes and tried to imitate the toothy grin that the little girl displayed a little while back. He wasn't used to smiling.

"It's all right ma'am. I don't mind at all. Oh and… Mirai?"

"Yes?"

"You are going to grow to become a great sensei in the future!"

Little Mirai blushed.

"Thank you mister!"

The woman gave her a motherly hug and smiled sweetly at her. Sukea vaguely remembered a time when his own mother did the same to him… before…

"Uncle Buggy is here!" said Mirai's mother "Shall we go see him?"

"Yay! Uncle Buggy!" cheered little Mirai.

And with that, the woman and the girl went to meet the other guests.

He was alone once more.

* * *

 **Flash! Click!**

He experimented with the camera for a little bit. He decided to just take pictures, and not try to take any videos…

... he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it.

He pointed it at the Cherry-Blossoms and he took a picture.

 **Flash! Click!**

He looked at the resulting picture on the screen.

' _I think I am getting the hang of this, finally!'_

He decided to go near the crowd of guests. He vaguely saw **her** in the distance, staring longingly at the sky. He thought she looked beautiful.

' _I wonder what she is thinking about...'_

He pointed the camera at her.

 **Flash! Click!**

* * *

He heard a loud cheer from the crowd as the groom and his "father" approached the shrine's waiting room. As Sukea slowly approached the groom to take his picture, he noticed that the cheer had turned to laughter. He went closer to find out the cause of it.

He stared disbelievingly as the groom's "Father" was trying to push the groom towards the shrine while the groom tried to get behind him and did his best to stay put.

"Dammit Naruto! _Move_! We're supposed to head into the waiting room before the bride arrives!"

"I can't Iruka-sensei!" said the groom, dressed in traditional Shinto wedding attire "My body won't move itself!"

"I don't believe you are having second thoughts NOW of all times!"

"I AM NOT HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS! I REALLY WANT TO MARRY HINATA!"

"THEN, WHAT IS IT YOU IDIOT?"

"THE HAPPINESS! IT OVERWHELMS ME! IF I TAKE ANOTHER STEP I FEEL LIKE I WILL PASS OUT FROM IT!"

Sukea heard a collective facepalm from the audience. He then saw a man with black glasses making a gesture pointing at the groom. A swarm of insects flew from his sleeve, surrounded the groom and lifted him up from the ground allowing his "father" to push him more easily. Naruto fainted.

"Yay!" a little girl's voice cheered from the audience "Uncle Buggy does it again!"

"I had to do this Mirai-chan! Why? The reason is because I don't want my precious sister Hinata to walk into such a scene…"

The man with the black glasses adjusted them on his face and followed the, now unconscious, groom and his "father" inside the shrine's waiting room.

"Honestly Hinata passing out from happiness I can believe…" said a dog owner disbelievingly as he followed them inside the waiting room "But _Naruto_?"

 **She** proceeded to head inside the altar as well to give the groom some first aid and wake him up before the bride arrived. **She** made her exit a few moments later along with the three men who took the groom there.

"You think he is going to be all right on his own in there?"

"He is going to be fine." **she** said "I calmed him down somewhat."

"How did you do it?"

"I told him to look up at the Hokage monument and think of how proud his father would be if he saw him."

"You know, I can't believe this actually worked."

"Well, I happen to know Naruto a bit better than you."

"Touche"

 **Flash! Click!**

* * *

The bride arrived shortly afterwards dressed in a traditional white Kimono. The head of the Hyuga clan held her hand and smiled as he walked her into the shrine's waiting room to meet her beloved groom.

Sukea looked at the bride disbelievingly. She was absolutely beautiful, but that's not what defied his belief.

Part of the reason he chose to ignore the wedding invitations while he wandered in the desert was that he was afraid, that **she** would be the one getting married to groom. He honestly believed that **she** would choose to forget him and marry his best friend instead. He thought that they would choose to heal each other's hearts, move on and leave him behind.

...It was with great shock and, he hated to admit, with great relief, that he opened up one of the discarded wedding invitations and saw that **her** name was not it.

Instead, the name on the invitation read "Hinata Hyuga".

' _Hinata who?! Who was she?!'_

He vaguely remembered a girl with short black hair at the back of the class who was the only girl that didn't cheer for him when he was sparring with Naruto and… that was it! He didn't really know her. He never even talked to her.

He knew that she was somehow special to the Groom. When the Infinite Tsukuyomi manifested and she got caught in it, the groom somehow felt it and went after her, nearly falling into the Tsukuyomi's influence himself. He had to actively hold him back from running to her… So she was definitely important to him.

But what happened between them… and the history they shared… how they eventually became a couple… it was all a mystery.

' _Come to think of it… I hardly know anything about anybody here...'_

Oh, he knew the groom, **her** , and Kakashi but the rest of the crowd? Who _were_ those people?! What were they _all_ doing here?

He distinctly remembered fighting Rock Lee, and he remembered fighting Gaara and Killer Bee, but he didn't know anything about them other than that he clashed with them. He remembered fighting alongside a lot of those people during the Great War but other than that… nothing.

' _Am I really that out of touch with the rest of the world?'_

Solemnly, he raised his camera at the bride, and took pictures of her as she walked inside the shrine's waiting room. The head of the Hyuga clan gave her a warm smile as he allowed her to walk inside to finally go near the man she loves.

 **Flash! Click!**

* * *

While the groom and the bride were inside the waiting room and were having the ritual explained to them, the bride's father, the leader of the Hyuga clan, approached the crowd and made an announcement.

"This is going to be a closed and private ceremony attended only by the bride and the groom's immediate family. Umino Iruka will be allowed attend as the groom's father surrogate but the rest of you, with the exception of the photographer, are kindly requested to head back to the reception and wait until the end of the ceremony."

As he saw the rest of the guests head back into the wedding reception, Sukea saw the Hyuga Clan leader point his hand at him and gesturing for him to get closer.

"I want to have a word with you…"

"What is it?"

"I can't allow you to go inside the shrine."

"Why not?"

The Hyuga Clan leader looked at him with a stern expression.

"You've never witnessed a Shinto wedding ritual before, have you?"

Sukea shook his head.

"No, actually this is my first time."

The Hyuga Clan leader sighed as he tried to explain the situation to the photographer.

"The Shinto wedding ritual requires those who participate in the wedding ceremony to go through a purification rite."

"And…?"

"The rite involves kneeling down and symbolically washing your hands."

Sukea looked at his right arm dejectedly.

"Oh…"

"Kakashi has informed me of the… particularities of your mission. I owe you my life so I won't inform anyone here about your true identity and I will do my best to protect it. But I am painfully aware of your history and past. I really can't allow you to get inside the shrine without the purification rite. Kami knows if anyone needs to do it, it's you."

Sukea nodded in agreement.

"I understand. But I will still need to take pictures."

The Hyuga smiled.

"The shrine has big windows and really thin walls. You will still be able to cover everything. Now if you excuse me, I have to attend my daughter's marriage."

Sukea smiled faintly.

"Thank you."

He watched as the leader of the Hyuga clan took his younger daughter's hand and stepped inside the waiting room. A few minutes later the bride and the groom stepped outside. They were practically beaming.

He pointed the camera at them.

 **Flash! Click!**

He followed them from a distance.

* * *

 **No awards for guessing who "Sukea" actually is in this fanfic!**

 **So, why did I choose to have Sasuke dress up as the fake paparazzi from the "Book of Wind"?**

 **The reason I did this will become apparent in the next chapter when he will actually interact with Naruto and Sakura.**

 **Sasuke's bad relationship with modern technology is well documented in "Gaiden", and I couldn't resist making fun of it!**

 **The scene with Mirai is actually based on something my daughter did when she was seven. She found my digital camera, and played around with it for a while. Five minutes later she was taking pictures left and right even managing to use some of the camera's more advanced features such as the flash and the zoom. I didn't guide her, she figured it all out instinctively on her own…**

 **...she really is precious!**

 **The next chapter will have the wedding ceremony and some NaruHina fluff!**


	2. Chapter 2 - The Wedding Ritual

**Finally! After a full year, numerous re-writes and revisions, and whole lot of procrastination and head-banging, the second chapter is ready!**

 **I was very hesitant to release the chapter. In the first one I somehow managed to imitate Sho Hinata's style adequately and it actually seemed to tie in quite well with the original novel but this... this...**

 **...Lets just say that my style of goofy irrelevant hunor took over and leave it at that... I hope that you will still enjoy it!**

 **Special thanks to Serious Sam for proof-reading this and for offering some well-needed feedback and suggestions. Without him I would still be banging my head on the wall wondering if the whole thing worked.**

 **This chapter deals with Naruto and Hinata's wedding ritual. Even though the style is somewhat different from the first chapter, it still references it quite a lot, so it's advisable to go back and read the first chapter before reading this, or it won't make a whole lot of sense.**

 **On with the show...**

* * *

 _'Thoughts'_

"Dialogue"

* * *

It was the single most disturbing thing Sukea had ever seen…

It wasn't the most traumatizing thing he had ever seen. It wasn't something that caused him great emotional and physical pain. It wasn't something that would irrevocably scar him and cause him to have nightmares for the rest of his life.

(Kami knows he has had his fair share of _those_ types of experiences over the years)

No, it was the single most _disturbing_ thing he had ever seen. As in what he was witnessing right now caused him a great sense of discomfort and unease, as well as a sudden urge to drop every single thing that he was doing and run straight for the hills. It was disturbing him and it was affecting him in ways he never thought it would be possible…

...The bride was cupping the groom's cheek in her hand and she was smiling at him…

...and the groom was cupping her hand and smiling back…

 _...in a way he had never seen him smile before…_

* * *

 _Two hours ago..._

 **Flash! Click!**

The priest was _not_ having a good day…

His trip from Yugakure (oh how he could use the hot-springs right about now) was long and tiring, and he hardly had any time to rest since he had arrived. The wedding was going to be one of the biggest religious events in the known shinobi world, and arranging the specifics -setting up the temple, placing the ornaments and the saké, interviewing/interrogating the Miko maidens - was taking a huge strain on him.

His face involuntarily scrunched up as he recalled some of the answers he had been given from some of the Miko Maidens. How many times did he have to tell them? No, they couldn't have their cake and eat it too. They couldn't pursue relationships AND keep getting that precious virginal Miko maiden income…

...no matter how _creative_ they were in pursuing that goal…

...there was something seriously _wrong_ with young girls today...

Adherence to religious morals was very important to him. He was from a family whose members were all involved with religion in some shape or form. His mother was a former Miko maiden (she was very strict in matters of purity and reverence), while his father was a former practitioner of a strange religion that believed in reincarnation and Nirvana which worshipped some sort of guy in meditating position. His sister left home to become a Shinmei-Ryu priestess while his cousin…

...was exiled from the village for worshipping a strange dark god called Jashin who required constant blood sacrifices in order to obtain eternal life, or more accurately prevent corporeal death. Normally, Yugakure was a place where all religions were tolerable, where all faiths and systems of belief were welcome…

...but him chopping off his torso after hanging himself on a lamp-post to show off his god's greatness, was going a bit too far for the visiting daimyo's tastes.

The priest sighed. He rather _missed_ his cousin. He was _fun_ to be around. Especially when he started rambling and the little bits of frothy spit started appearing around his mouth. Last he heard, he joined a strange organization that was working on bringing about the end of the world.

He always wondered how _that_ turned out...

He turned his attention back to the hopefully-soon-to-be-wedded couple.

About **thirty minutes** ago he had announced the _Shubatsu_ and had ordered all those in attendance of the wedding to go through the purification rite which would involve kneeling down in front of him and washing their hands. The wedded couple would go through the rite first and then walk into the shrine. It was a simple, quick ceremony which normally took no longer than five minutes.

 _...Normally..._

As things stood right now, the couple was **still** standing in front of him, arm-in-arm, fingers and palms interlocked with each other, both with a deep blush on their face.

...the groom was **still** nodding for the bride to go first…

...the bride was **still** nodding to the groom to go instead…

 _...with no visible concession in sight..._

A Shinto priest is supposed to be patient and understanding. He is trained in a religion that talks of being calm when others are becoming angry, to view the world as a big family, and stay tranquil and collected in his everyday life…

...and yet even he couldn't take any more of this!

"Look, are we going to move on with the wedding ceremony or not? It's going to get dark in a while."

Both the bride and the groom smiled at each other.

"It's embarrassing but…"

 **"I don't want to let go of his/her hand!"** the couple said simultaneously.

The Hyuga clan leader and the groom's "father" merely shook their heads while a teenage girl that was standing near them began to snicker. She was holding a picture of a man that seemed vaguely familiar to Sukea. The man's picture had a black ribbon tied around it, which meant that he must have passed away at some point before the wedding. His face on the picture seemed stern and expressionless.

Sukea thought he should be able to recognize that man, that he must have encountered him at some point in his life, but for the life of him, he couldn't put a name to that face. He was very similar to the bride's father, so he was definitely related to the bride, but he couldn't quite remember what sort of encounter they had. It must've happened a long time ago…

...almost like in a past life...

"Geez! Will you two stop being so sickeningly sweet?" the teenage girl snapped. "I think I can see flies gathering around you!"

The girl's words made the bride immediately stop smiling as if she realized something extremely important that she had missed up until that point. She immediately activated her Byakugan and began scanning the area around her. Eventually, she pinpointed a spot above her and she started to focus, and then focus even harder, until she found what she was looking for.

The insect was small. Much too small to make out its features. To the untrained eye it seemed like a fly, but Sukea's eyes, and apparently the bride's could clearly make out that it was some sort of black beetle.

"I am sorry Shino-kun, but this is supposed to be a small, _private_ wedding ceremony." said the bride. Her voice sounded delicate and low, but for some reason it seemed like it carried an edge that could cut through steel.

Sukea could see the small insect do circles in the air.

"I will be _fine_ , Shino-kun. I am touched that you care for me so much but we all agreed that only close family members would attend it."

The beetle began to do a complicated dance. The bride smiled softly as she picked up whatever message the insect was sending and addressed the air once more.

"Of course we're family Shino-kun." she said in a considerably softer voice. "You, Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun are my precious brothers. We have fought and bled together. We have laughed and cried together. I really wish I could have bought you in to watch the ceremony as well. But the custom requires only the relatives to attend it. Sakura isn't attending the ceremony either, remember? And Iruka-sensei is only able to attend as a Father surrogate."

The insect zigzagged softly through the air as if finally conceding to her point.

"I will talk to you and Kiba-kun right after the ceremony, OK?"

The small insect left, passing between the Hyūga Clan Leader and the teenage Girl. They looked at it, and then at each other not believing what they had just seen. They both stood there dumbfounded for about a minute.

There was a moment of silence.

"I swear, I meant it as a joke." eventually said the girl.

"I'll have to install bug traps around the bedroom. " said the groom in a barely audible voice.

"What was that, Naruto-kun?"

"Uhm, nothing! Nothing! Shino is very... "

"He is more sentimental and considerate than people give him credit for. Yes."

 **"Ahem!"**

Naruto and Hinata turned their heads to looked at the priest who seemed like he was about to blow a gasket.

"Will one of you **please** let go of the other's hand so that we can **finally** go through the purification rite?"

The young couple looked each other in the eyes and softly smiled at each other.

"I think we have a better idea."

They both approached the priest and knelt down before him at the same time.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"We wish to go through the Shubatsu _together_."

The Shinto priest wondered if it was too late to convert to the church of Jashin like his cousin did a long time ago. He had once told him that a Jashin wedding typically involves the priest bashing the couple's heads together until they both pass out, at which point they are bludgeoned and stomped upon. It wouldn't get him any wedding license revenue but it would work wonders for his nerves right now.

Not that he would ever consider joining the church of Jashin, or course. His cousin was a ridiculous, raving, nonsensical lunatic that worshiped an evil god which required blood sacrifices. The religion his cousin followed was evil and deplorable, right?

Right!

He furiously rubbed his temples and resisted the urge to brutally beat the crap out of the couple that was standing in front of him. The _Shubatsu_ wasn't normally performed like this, but it was either this or watch them playfully argue about who would go first for the next few hours. Besides, one could argue that it was symbolic in a way, their love for one another purifying them and bringing out the best in each other and stuff… that sort of thing…

"Fine!" he said with an audible sigh and ceremoniously poured water over their hands resisting the urge to hit them with the ceremonial ladle and crown their heads with the ceremonial bucket.

The bride softly smiled as she started rubbing and washing the groom's hands. Her fingers went around his wrist and softly started caressing his fingers. The groom opened his palm and engulfed hers as if he was trying to protect her hand, not wash it. It was as if her hands were the most precious thing in the world.

The bride softly pushed against the groom's palm, opening it, and allowing the ceremonial water to pour inside. She softly scratched it while the groom gently touched her wrists with his thumbs. It was like a slow, delicate dance, neither of them wanting to let go of the other, and taking extra care to thoroughly protect each other.

Hardly a word was exchanged between them. But you could see it in the way their eyes shined, in the way their cheeks blushed and in the way their smiles radiated. This was a very intimate moment.

The bride and the groom moved their faces closer to each other.

 **"Ahem!"**

The young couple looked upwards to see the disapproving look of the Shinto priest.

"Oh, right… sorry. We got a bit carried away…"

"Please step inside the ceremonial room and _wait_ until everyone here has completed the purification rite."

The bride and the groom could literally feel _the italics_ in the priest's sentence. His message was perfectly clear.

They both walked inside quietly.

The priest nodded for the rest of the wedding attendants to proceed with the purification rite. They all complied and entered the ceremonial chamber.

* * *

 **Flash! Click!**

Other than those little incidents at the start the rest of the ceremony went rather smoothly. The Shinto priest performed the _Norito-sojo_ by announcing the name of the bride and the groom.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Hyūga Hinata are about to have their lives connected through holy matrimony in front of the gods."

The priest did a conscious effort to exclude Jashin from the "God Assembly" he had formed inside his head. Now was not the time nor the place to consider Jashinism as a viable religion.

The young couple walked by the rest of the wedding attendants who all bowed respectfully and kneeled in front of the wedding altar silently as the priest offered a prayer to the gods, Jashin excluded.

Sukea kneeled outside the wedding room and offered a prayer to the gods as well. He wasn't a very religious man, but he believed in the groom and believed that he deserved happiness with someone who loved and cherished him.

"I wish you all the happiness in the world, _dobe_."

The wedding attendants stood up and the Shinto priest gestured for one of the helpers to bring in the ceremonial saké.

"We shall now perform the _San San Kudo_ , the ceremonial drinking of saké. Will the bride and the groom approach the altar, _without holding hands please?_ "

The couple silently complied.

"Each of you shall now drink from each one of those three cups. The small, the medium and the big one. This symbolizes the moments you two are going to spend together, the small, the big and the uh… average ones?"

The priest just shook his head, as he didn't quite get that part either. Maybe he wasn't cut for this sort of religion?

"You will bring your lips to each cup two times without drinking the saké, and then on the third time you will drink it in full. This uh…"

He stopped as he realized with horror that he completely forgot what the hell that gesture was supposed to represent. His mind flashed with an image of him wearing a black cloak covered with red clouds, roaming the landscape and massacring shinobi in the quest for blood and immortality.

He quickly pushed that image in the back of his mind. Now was not the time, nor the place.

"Never mind that." he said with a quick smile on his face as tried to push all thoughts of Jashinism (and blood), and sacrifices (and blood) into the darkest recesses of his psyche. "Please drink the saké now."

The groom stepped in front of the altar, took one of the cups and brought in to his face. He touched the saké with his lips two times, and drank it with the third. The cup was the refilled and handed over to the bride, who repeated the groom's actions with a warm smile shining on her face.

 _'She probably thinks of it as an indirect kiss,'_ the priest thought. _'Jashin help me, these sort of couples make me sick.'_

His eyes shot wide open as he realized what he just thought. He nervously stood up and performed a ceremonial walk around the couple, internally cursing the time he decided to have a passing look at the books his cousin left behind after he was exiled. He actually liked being a Shinto priest. It was an easy job, it was safe, it paid well and had lots of benefits. That being said, Jashin kept popping up in his head at the most inopportune times.

Did the couple finish the drinking ritual already?

He rushed towards the couple to perform the next part.

"The groom shall now perform the _Seishi Sodoku_ , the wedding oath. He shall read out a statement of love and faith towards his future bride."

He looked at the groom curiously.

"You asked to prepare the wedding oath yourself?"

The groom grinned and produced a scroll from his hand.

"Sure did!"

He opened up the scroll and started reading.

The groom was known throughout the whole Shinobi World as the master of what was now affectionately called the _"Talk-No-Jutsu"._ He was known to change minds and hearts with nothing more than a fight and a speech. Souls who considered themselves forever lost in the dark found their way back to the light. Entire leaders who were previously hostile became his friends. Villains who encountered him changed their ways and joined the side of good.

Yes, the groom certainly had a talent for _improvising_ words after a long and tiring fight or during the heat of battle…

"When I first saw you Hinata Hyūga, I thought you were a complete and utter weirdo…"

...Actually _preparing_ words in isolation was another matter entirely.

The father of the bride, the groom's surrogate father and the teenage girl all collectively slapped their foreheads, while the bride tried her best not to cringe. For a split second Sukea thought he saw the young man in the picture rub his temples.

"You gave me that ointment during the chūnin exams, which was unbelievably cool of you, because nobody ever gave me free stuff before . And that was after you watched me fart on your teammate's face. I don't know who else would actually want to be with me after that."

Sukea shook his head as he kept listening to the groom's speech. This had to be the worst wedding oath he ever heard. Granted, it was the only wedding oath he had ever heard, but he was pretty sure that you weren't supposed to publicly embarrass yourself and the bride in front of the gods and her family.

"I mean, the last time I farted in front of Sakura, she beat the living crap out me."

And now he was mentioning **her** , his first crush, in front of his future bride.

 _'I can't believe he's fumbling his own wedding vows.'_ Sukea thought. _'No, scratch that. I've known the guy for most of my life. I would be more shocked if he **didn't** fumble them.'_

The groom's hands started shaking as he read the scroll. He was beginning to realize that he was messing up.

"And then we had that 'ramen eating contest' and I thought how amazing you were because you ate twelve bowls of Miso Pork ramen and I was in the back alley puking my guts out after I had only six and… and…"

He started panicking.

"And this is **wrong**! This is all **wrong**! It all sounded so good in my head while I was writing this! But now that I'm saying it out loud it sounds so inappropriate and stupid! I knew I should have allowed Iruka-Sensei to check it out! How could I be so…"

That was when it happened.

The bride approached the groom and put her palm on his face. It wasn't quite a slap, but it caused an audible sound that even Sukea could hear outside the temple.

Her action caused the groom to cease his panic attack, freeze and look at her.

The bride didn't say a word. She didn't have to. All she had to do was look him in the eyes and give him a warm smile.

The groom closed his eyes and cupped her hand with his, dropping his scroll on the floor. He then bought his forehead close to hers and smiled back.

"You did it again…" the groom said "You saved me…"

He held his bride's hands and kept going.

"During the darkest moments of my life, whenever I lost faith in myself, whenever I was ready to give up on everything, you were always the one who kept me going, who gave me the strength to do what I had to do."

Sukea couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was that really the same groom as before?

"You once told me that whenever you looked at me you got an intense feeling in your heart, that my smile somehow 'saved you'. I am here to tell you… I feel the same way! Whenever I look at you, I feel as if my heart is going to burst out of my chest."

The bride's smile radiated like the sun.

" **Your** smile saved **me**!"

The groom looked at the scroll that was currently on the floor.

"For the past few days, I've been struggling to write a proper oath, but I just couldn't do it. I mean… How could mere _words_ express what you mean to me? How valuable and irreplaceable you are in my life?"

He looked again at his bride and bought her hands close to his heart.

"Can you feel how my heart beats right now? It's beating for you! **Only for you!** **Nobody else but you!** I guess what I am trying to tell you is… **I love you Hinata! You are the most important person in my life! Nothing would make me happier than having a family with you!"**

The bride's smile urged him to go on.

"I don't know what the future will hold for us. I don't know if the peace we have both worked so far to protect will last. But what I do know is that, until the day I draw my final breath, I will **always** love you, I will **always** cherish you…"

"...And I will **never** go back on my words… because that is **our** ninja way…"

The groom leaned his forehead on the bride's. Their mouths opened up in preparation for a kiss.

...it was at this point that the priest forcibly separated the couple before any "impure" gestures took place.

"That will do for a wedding oath!" he said in the defeated tone of voice of someone who has had quite enough and was going to quietly retire for the rest of the evening in order to get drunk inside the temple's saké cellar. "And will you two **please** refrain from eating each other's faces until after you exit the temple? This is supposed to be a holy place!"

The couple bowed apologetically in unison.

"We are so sorry!"

The priest slapped his forehead and tried to compose himself. He rather envied his cousin right about now. He might have been a psychotic idiot but at least the god he worshipped didn't have stupid ceremonies like this! He started angrily spouting the words of the _Tamagushi Hoten_ , the ritual which signifies the end of the ceremony.

'Jashin would have just said, bash their heads and be done with it, but NO! I gotta be stuck with these two lovebirds who are more sappy than pancake syrup!'

He got as far away from the couple as he possibly could without exiting the temple. This was seriously creeping him out. He gestured towards the shrine maidens in order for the sakaki branch to be handed to the couple and for that ceremony to end.

This was getting to be more than he could handle.

* * *

 _The present..._

 **Flash! Click!**

As the couple exchanged their wedding rings and the ceremonial saké was passed around to the guests, signifying the end of the wedding ceremony, Sukea was standing still, completely lost in his own thoughts.

The image of the bride holding the groom's face and bringing him back to his senses was plaguing his mind.

What sort of strange power did this tiny woman have over his friend? She had managed to take the groom from a moment of panic and make him composed enough to deliver an acceptable wedding oath. And she did it with nothing but a touch and a smile.

It was uncanny. It was incredible.

And at the same time, it was _scary_.

Because he knew that a single hurtful word from her, a single scold, a single act of betrayal from this woman would have utterly destroyed him.

Is this what it means to be in love? To completely place your heart in the hands of another? To trust them implicitly and absolutely with every fiber of your being?

He always considered such feelings, such bonds, a weakness. He had never allowed himself to trust anybody, he never opened up about his feelings and his pain to anybody. Even when people were trying to reach him, to offer him their friendship and their love he firmly rejected it. He always believed that to trust somebody, to place your heart in somebody else's hands, to let yourself be dependent on someone else like this, would make him more vulnerable.

But the groom, his friend, had always depended on other people like this and he was one of the strongest people he knew. The only person who had managed to best him. Even when all of his friends and comrades were trapped inside the infinite tsukuyomi, even after having his chakra drained, he still managed to muster enough strength to give him one final strike and save him. Because he wasn't just fighting for himself, he was fighting to save the people he cared about, the people he loved. What he believed was the groom's weakness turned out to be his biggest asset.

And even after understanding this, even after witnessing things on his travels that reinforced that understanding, Sukea was still reluctant to trust people, to let his old self go.

He was still reluctant to place his heart inside **her** hands. He cared for **her** and he wanted to be with **her** , but couldn't bring himself to actually do it. He once thought that it was because he considered her love a weakness, but now, as he saw the bride and the groom walk together down the temple, he finally understood.

He was _afraid_.

Afraid that **she** would discard him. That **she** would leave him for somebody else. For somebody who wasn't hurting her and wasn't leaving her. For somebody who was treating her right.

For somebody **she** _deserved_!

How could he ever place his heart inside her hands when he had already caused **her** so much misery and pain? When he crushed her dreams with his spare hands? When he rejected her love and her affection in the worst possible way? When he left **her** alone for so long to fend for herself.

When he had already killed **her** in more ways than one.

That was the main difference between Sukea and the groom.

The groom _deserved_ to be loved. He _deserved_ to have his heart valued and cherished.

Sukea on the other hand only deserved pain. After everything he had done, after everything he squandered, all the people whose death he caused, all those bonds he broke or attempted to break, he didn't deserve love, least of all by **her**. He only deserved to die alone surrounded by jackals who would feast on his flesh as soon as he drew his final breath. He didn't even deserve to leave a corpse behind for his friends to cry over.

At least, that's what Sukea himself believed.

And yet…

A part of him wished to go back to **her**. To allow himself to get lost inside her beautiful emerald green eyes. To chuckle as she throws a tantrum and something funny happens to her. To be by her side and hold her, to stand by her, to help her…

...to love **her** … to _be loved_ by her…

As he observed the bride and the groom, he began to realize that this was something he wanted more than anything else…

…he craved… **her**.

He pointed the camera at the couple once more. Now was not the time to ponder such things.

* * *

 **Flash! Click!**

The clicking sound of the camera attracted the groom's attention, who started to eye Sukea curiously.

"You know, you look familiar. I can't shake the feeling that we've met before."

Sukea smiled goofily and started sweating nervously. He was afraid this would happen.

"As a matter of fact, we have. I am Sukea. Freelance reporter."

He could practically see the gears inside the groom's brain start to grind.

"Uhh… remember me?"

The groom's face brightened as the memory came back to him.

"Of course I remember you! You're that photographer who was trying to get a picture of Kakashi-sensei's unmasked face! How are you doing?! I haven't seen you in ages!"

The groom's hand fell on Sukea's shoulder.

"I always wondered what happened to you! Last I heard, you weren't allowed to return to the village ever again."

"I… uh… managed to get a pardon from the sixth Hokage just for this occasion."

"Nice to see you again!"

The reporter tried his best to smile and move backwards . He knew how he was supposed to act and he was really happy to see the groom on the happiest day of his life, but such displays of happiness were not something that came naturally to him.

"Uhm… nice to see you again too."

He watched as the groom held his bride tighter and started walking with her towards the wedding reception. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. As much as he cared for the groom, him recognizing who he actually was would put a big damper on things.

The newlywed couple had finally reached the wedding reception. The crowd around them cheered and started clapping as they gathered around them.

Sukea pointed the camera towards the couple once more.

 **Flash! Click!**

The wedding reception started to get busier.

* * *

 **And we are finally done with the Naruto and Hinata's wedding! I was actually intending to include the wedding reception there too, but the chapter turned out to be really long as it was. So the next chapter is going to deal with the NaruHina wedding reception and how the guests interrupt with our favourite couple.**

 **And yes... Sasuke and Sakura are going to finally interact there!**

 **So now you know why Kakashi chose for Sasuke to disguise himself as Sukea, the photographer from "The Book of Wind". The idea is that Naruto and will connect the familiarity with the photographer not Sasuke. And if he tries to check if the photographer is lying he will see that he is telling the truth because... well... Sasuke was also there when Team 7 and Sukea (actually Kakashi in disguise back then) were trying to find out how he was looking under the mask.**

 **Now... about the Shinto priest...**

 **The character originated from a joke question I asked myself. Namely what would a Jashin _wedding_ be like? I mean, since it's supposed to be a viable religion, it's also going to have some wedding nuptials, right? Thus, the Shinto priest turns out to be Hidan's cousin and his personality is what would happen if Hidan had decided _at the very last moment_ to follow shintoism instead of Jashinism. I enjoyed writing him so much that he ended up taking a bigger part in the fic than I had originally intended. I might give him a part in one of the fics next chapter if I get positive feedback on him.**

 **Yes, the fic is not done yet. The next chapter will focus on the wedding reception (it will be based on "The Last"'s credit sequence), after which there will be an epilogue chapter which chronicles what happens to various Naruto characters after the wedding and connects the end of Konoha Hiden with the Boruto Movie / Upcoming Series. I am also thinking of implement a "Kabuto's Report" chapter, which is going to focus on what happens in the wedding reception _after_ the credit sequence, but I am having problems coming up with ideas for it.**

 **Hopefully it will take me _less_ than a year to complete whatever it is I want to do...**

 **Again, special thanks to Serious Sam for his encouragement and feedback.**

 **See you next chapter (Hopefully)...**


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